BREAKING NEWS: There are street gangs in Hartford. An internal police memo that was obtained by the Hartford Courant describes the gang activity in the city as an “infestation”, citing a total of 138 crews and 4,000 members, 800 of whom are under the age of 17. A large portion of the gangs are said to be affiliated with cliques such as the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings & Los Solidos, all national organizations. After parents, city officials & educators expressed their concern, the cops said, “Oh, that number isn’t really accurate – groups that don’t meet the Department of Justice definition of gangs were included in the totals”. The tone deaf city school Superintendent Steven Adamowski’s reaction was “Gangs? What Gangs? We don’t have gangs in our schools!” It was amusing yet sad to watch Adamowski change course after parents confirmed during an October 21 community meeting that yes, gangs are a fact of life in Hartford schools. Former Weaver High principal Paul Stringer weighed in, stating that Adamowski was well aware of the presence of gangs in city schools.

So now what? Hartford was recently awarded a $ 500,000 federal grant which is supposed to be used to mentor city youths and steer them away from gangs, including a $100 reward for those who complete the program successfully. The question that I have for city officials is when will there be a frank discussion about the root causes of the condition of black and Latino males in Hartford? A report by the Center for Social Inclusion, “One Region: Promoting Prosperity Across Race”, finds that urban communities are disproportionately deprived of infrastructure spending, job creation and vital government services. The authors of the report believe that the hood should get a taste of the federal stimulus money which is being doled out in billions. While the black unemployment rate nationally is over 12.6 %, with considerably higher numbers for young black males, the report estimates that in some pockets of the urban community the figure is as high as 50%. Another report by United for a Fair Economy, “State of the Dream 2009: The Silent Depression”, finds that people of color in this country are already mired in a silent economic depression, which has been fueled to a significant degree by the foreclosure crisis.

David Simon, a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun and producer of the classic HBO series The Wire told Bill Moyers of PBS something that needed to be said, which is that the drug trade is the only viable economic resource in poverty stricken urban communities. A 15 year old kid whose parents are strung out on drugs doesn’t want to hear any I Have a Dream speeches. He or she wants to know where their next meal is coming from and how they can get some rent money because Mom or Dad smoked it up and the landlord is looking to throw the entire family out on the street. It gets worse – an institutionally racist criminal justice system has turned Connecticut into a criminal factory. 50% of the male prison population in this state comes from Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport. Blacks and Latinos more than double the number of incarcerated whites. Finding work in this country is hard enough if you’re not a white male – a Pew study finds that a black male with no criminal record has the same chance of being hired for a job as a white male with a felony conviction. You can do the math regarding the chances of a black man with a criminal history finding gainful employment in the United States.

All of the aforementioned facts are recruiting tools for street gangs. These kids aren’t stupid – they see criminal activity as the only avenue to make some real dough in a racist societal structure. As long as economic and criminal justice inequities exist, gangs will remain an attractive option for black and Latino youths who learn all too soon that the game is rigged against them.